Monday, January 31, 2011

All Star Games: Your Experience May Vary

In a brilliant move, the NHL put its own all star game on the very same weekend as the NFL Pro Bowl. Watching these games back-to-back (or, more accurately, I watched the NHL game and then about a quarter of the Pro Bowl) highlighted some key differences in these games. Simply put, the Pro Bowl is terrible, and the NHL (and NBA) have an All Star Game that works. Here's why.

We savor the big defensive play in football. A huge hit, a great interception, a key sack, etc. We love these plays almost as much as we love big offensive plays. But the Pro Bowl is a game without defenders trying hard at all. There is no blitzing (so almost no sacks), no hard hits, and the interceptions come because the QBs are just trying to throw deep because they don't care. The Pro Bowl eliminates half of what we love about football, and it ruins the offensive plays because we know the players on defense aren't trying that hard. And maybe it comes down to just that; we've been watching playoff football, where every player (besides Jay Cutler) is playing his butt off on every play because they want it so bad. To watch the Pro Bowl after that is akin to watching Spring Training Baseball after watching Game 7 of the World Series. You can feel the difference, and its ruined.

The NHL (and, for the most part, the NBA) All Star Game is different, though. It comes in the middle of the season, so we haven't been exposed to playoff hockey in a little while. We also don't love defensive hockey as much as people love defense in football. While most appreciate a good check on the boards or an open ice hit, good positioning and blocking passing lanes are not included in the highlights packages (in basketball, people usually only like blocks, and those can even show up in the All Star Game). The All Star Game, though, does showcase the athletic/offensive talents of the players better than any regular season game. The players go out there, knowing that there will be very little defense, and turn it into an awesome passing and deke fest. Thus, the game is awesome- every player out there is trying to do something awesome with the puck, and the goalies are trying to stand on their head and stop shots without the aid of a competent defense. Sure, its a shell of the 'real' game. But its more fun to watch than football players who drag themselves through the Pro Bowl. The NHL All Star Game is just a better showcase of talent than what the NFL puts out there. Football is a game that is only fun to watch when you know both teams are trying, and the Pro Bowl has none of that. The NHL and NBA games can work because we basically suspend our belief and just watch 'fun' hockey or basketball.

The only solution I can come up with is to turn the NFL game into a game of 7 on 7, pick up game rules. It's not the real thing, sure, but it would give the NFL a chance to show off its fun side.

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